This chapter examines the Soviet influence on North Korean literature by considering the activity of Russianized or Soviet Koreans, with particular emphasis on Cho Ki-ch'ŏn (1913–1951). Soviet ...
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This chapter examines the Soviet influence on North Korean literature by considering the activity of Russianized or Soviet Koreans, with particular emphasis on Cho Ki-ch'ŏn (1913–1951). Soviet Koreans combined a Soviet upbringing and mentality with a strong sense of belonging to the Korean ethnic community. They were regarded by the Soviet administration as invaluable intermediaries in dealing with North Korean society, and especially in the transformation of North Korean literature and the arts into crucial propaganda tools of the nascent Communist state. This chapter situates Cho within the political and literary context of his time. It analyzes Cho's impact on North Korean literature and literary politics of the late 1940s and early 1950s by turning to some of his works, including Paektusan (Paektu Mountain), and other poems glorifying socialist realism. It also discusses Cho's career during the Korean War and concludes by assessing his legacy.Less

Soviet Koreans in North Korean Literature : The Case of Cho Ki-ch’ŏn

Tatiana Gabroussenko

Published in print: 2010-07-26

This chapter examines the Soviet influence on North Korean literature by considering the activity of Russianized or Soviet Koreans, with particular emphasis on Cho Ki-ch'ŏn (1913–1951). Soviet Koreans combined a Soviet upbringing and mentality with a strong sense of belonging to the Korean ethnic community. They were regarded by the Soviet administration as invaluable intermediaries in dealing with North Korean society, and especially in the transformation of North Korean literature and the arts into crucial propaganda tools of the nascent Communist state. This chapter situates Cho within the political and literary context of his time. It analyzes Cho's impact on North Korean literature and literary politics of the late 1940s and early 1950s by turning to some of his works, including Paektusan (Paektu Mountain), and other poems glorifying socialist realism. It also discusses Cho's career during the Korean War and concludes by assessing his legacy.

This chapter considers the phenomenon of North Korean literary criticism in the period 1945–1960 and its role in the development of North Korean literature. Particular attention is given to the ...
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This chapter considers the phenomenon of North Korean literary criticism in the period 1945–1960 and its role in the development of North Korean literature. Particular attention is given to the political campaigns and purges of 1947–1960, along with the role of the North Korean critics in these events. It examines events in the North Korean literary world of 1947–1960 to demonstrate the political essence of North Korean criticism, including the “Ŭnghyang incident” (1947); conflicts motivated by factional interests, an example of which was the debate over Cho Ki-ch'ŏn's poem Paektusan (Paektu Mountain); and the campaigns against Yi T'ae-jun, Kim Nam-ch'ŏn, and Yim Hwa. It also discusses Kim Il Sung's attack against the Soviet Koreans, along with the waning of such campaigns. Finally, it reflects on the impact of literary criticism on North Korean literature.Less

North Korean Critics as Political Executioners

Tatiana Gabroussenko

Published in print: 2010-07-26

This chapter considers the phenomenon of North Korean literary criticism in the period 1945–1960 and its role in the development of North Korean literature. Particular attention is given to the political campaigns and purges of 1947–1960, along with the role of the North Korean critics in these events. It examines events in the North Korean literary world of 1947–1960 to demonstrate the political essence of North Korean criticism, including the “Ŭnghyang incident” (1947); conflicts motivated by factional interests, an example of which was the debate over Cho Ki-ch'ŏn's poem Paektusan (Paektu Mountain); and the campaigns against Yi T'ae-jun, Kim Nam-ch'ŏn, and Yim Hwa. It also discusses Kim Il Sung's attack against the Soviet Koreans, along with the waning of such campaigns. Finally, it reflects on the impact of literary criticism on North Korean literature.

This study focuses on two primary arguments. First, it demonstrates how the Koreans of the Russian Far East were continually viewed as a problematic or maligned nationality during the Tsarist and ...
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This study focuses on two primary arguments. First, it demonstrates how the Koreans of the Russian Far East were continually viewed as a problematic or maligned nationality during the Tsarist and Soviet periods. Second, this study argues that the Soviet state was not free of Russian nationalist, populist and primordial views and influences in their nationalities (national minorities) policies. The aforementioned were the “Tsarist continuities” which blinded the Stalinist regime from seeing the Koreans as loyal citizens. Instead, these influences cast the Koreans as a colonizing element (labor force) with unknowable political loyalties (and therefore, possible fifth columnists). This study found that the Soviet state exerted a tremendous sociopolitical influence on the Korean community primarily through the careful selection, cultivation, and placement of Soviet Korean cadres, informants, and secret police. Additionally, author Jon K. Chang sought to capture the sense of “agency,” initiative, and entrepreneurship that the Koreans added to Soviet life in the Russian Far East. Chang found very few documents of this type in the Soviet archives. Therefore, he went to Central Asia and interviewed over sixty elderly Soviet Korean deportees which he then paired with archival documents to write Burnt by the Sun.Less

Burnt by the Sun : The Koreans of the Russian Far East

Jon K. Chang

Published in print: 2016-06-30

This study focuses on two primary arguments. First, it demonstrates how the Koreans of the Russian Far East were continually viewed as a problematic or maligned nationality during the Tsarist and Soviet periods. Second, this study argues that the Soviet state was not free of Russian nationalist, populist and primordial views and influences in their nationalities (national minorities) policies. The aforementioned were the “Tsarist continuities” which blinded the Stalinist regime from seeing the Koreans as loyal citizens. Instead, these influences cast the Koreans as a colonizing element (labor force) with unknowable political loyalties (and therefore, possible fifth columnists). This study found that the Soviet state exerted a tremendous sociopolitical influence on the Korean community primarily through the careful selection, cultivation, and placement of Soviet Korean cadres, informants, and secret police. Additionally, author Jon K. Chang sought to capture the sense of “agency,” initiative, and entrepreneurship that the Koreans added to Soviet life in the Russian Far East. Chang found very few documents of this type in the Soviet archives. Therefore, he went to Central Asia and interviewed over sixty elderly Soviet Korean deportees which he then paired with archival documents to write Burnt by the Sun.

This concluding chapter summarizes the book's major findings and reconsiders the commonalties and specifics of North Korean literature in comparison with the Soviet model. It discusses the newly born ...
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This concluding chapter summarizes the book's major findings and reconsiders the commonalties and specifics of North Korean literature in comparison with the Soviet model. It discusses the newly born North Korean Communist regime's decision to “learn from the Soviets” by adopting the theory and practice of Soviet “socialist realism” as a political and artistic strategy. Through various channels of influence, including large-scale translations of Soviet literature and the activity of Soviet Koreans as living carriers of Soviet values, the North Korean literary and political world was able to absorb the Stalinist principles of managing culture and intellectuals. This transformed the North Korean literary cadre into yet another example of “engineers of the human soul,” or “soldiers on the cultural front.” This chapter also highlights some disparities between the literary politics of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the USSR.Less

Conclusion : Soldiers on the Cultural Front versus Engineers of the Human Soul

Tatiana Gabroussenko

Published in print: 2010-07-26

This concluding chapter summarizes the book's major findings and reconsiders the commonalties and specifics of North Korean literature in comparison with the Soviet model. It discusses the newly born North Korean Communist regime's decision to “learn from the Soviets” by adopting the theory and practice of Soviet “socialist realism” as a political and artistic strategy. Through various channels of influence, including large-scale translations of Soviet literature and the activity of Soviet Koreans as living carriers of Soviet values, the North Korean literary and political world was able to absorb the Stalinist principles of managing culture and intellectuals. This transformed the North Korean literary cadre into yet another example of “engineers of the human soul,” or “soldiers on the cultural front.” This chapter also highlights some disparities between the literary politics of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the USSR.